To Combat Obama, Al-Qaeda Hurls Insults  —  Soon after the November election, al-Qaeda's No. 2 leader took stock of America's new president-elect and dismissed him with an insulting epithet.  “A house Negro,” Ayman al-Zawahiri said.  —  That was just a warm-up.

Guantanamo Case Files in Disarray  —  President Obama's plans to expeditiously determine the fates of about 245 terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and quickly close the military prison there were set back last week when incoming legal and national security officials …

Which Governor Is Wackier?  —  I love Blago.  —  I love his beady little eyes.  I love his Serbian shock of hair.  I love his flaring nostrils.  I love the way he jogs through the snow under indictment, like a stork in spandex trying to gallop.  I love the way he compares himself …

West Wing on steroids in Obama W.H.  —  President Barack Obama is taking far-reaching steps to centralize decision-making inside the White House, surrounding himself with influential counselors, overseas envoys and policy “czars” that shift power from traditional Cabinet posts.

The Worst Pop Singer Ever  —  Why, exactly, is Billy Joel so bad?  —  This may seem an odd moment to bring up the subject of Billy Joel.  But the recent death of the painter Andrew Wyeth revived a long-standing debate over whether his art is respectable or merely sentimental schlock.

McCain won't vote for stimulus as it stands  —  But Obama economic adviser says the current plan is balanced  —  WASHINGTON - Sen. John McCain says it will take some big changes before he would vote for the Obama administration's stimulus package.  —  The Arizona Republican …

A Loophole In the Rules  —  From the magazine issue dated Feb 2, 2009  —  Publicly at least, President Obama has made a clean break with his predecessor's controversial counterterrorism policies, but in private the new administration is leaving itself some wiggle room.

Six Errors on the Path to the Financial Crisis  —  WHAT'S a nice economy like ours doing in a place like this?  As the country descends into what is likely to be its worst postwar recession, Americans are distressed, bewildered and asking serious questions: Didn't we learn how to avoid such catastrophes decades ago?

Iraq Election Highlights Ascendancy of Tribes  —  In Anbar, Clans Are Coddled, Cultivated  —  RAMADI, Iraq — In rugged western Iraq, once the bastion of the insurgency against the American occupation and now a freewheeling arena of electoral politics steeped in payola …

RANGEL PROBERS AWOL  —  ETHICS INQUIRY STALLS AS POLS LEAVE PANEL  —  Nobody's home at the House ethics committee that's supposed to be investigating Rep. Charles Rangel.  —  The panel created on Sept. 24 to probe the Harlem Democrat's alleged ethical lapses has been virtually disbanded …

A Play About Shells for Gaza Children  —  GAZA — The boys clapped and sang to pulsating music.  They played games and shouted.  It could have been a group activity at any school in any place, but this was the middle school in the Jabaliya refugee camp in Gaza, near where the United Nations …

Radio Spreads Taliban's Terror in Pakistani Region  —  PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Every night around 8 o'clock, the terrified residents of Swat, a lush and picturesque valley a hundred miles from three of Pakistan's most important cities, crowd around their radios.